Boston Scientific Cuts 2026 Sales Growth Forecast to 4.25% and Adjusted EPS to $3.18
Key Facts
Boston Scientific cut its 2026 outlook, estimating sales growth of about 4.25% on a reported basis and 3.75% organically, with adjusted earnings per share of $3.16 to $3.18, according to third-quarter results the company announced on October 28. In its July guidance, the company had forecast sales growth of 5.5% to 6.5% and adjusted earnings per share of $3.28 to $3.32. The cut came after the company said a cyber incident had affected its operations, while quarterly results showed sales continued to grow, albeit at a limited pace. Chief Executive Mike Mahoney said the year had been challenging and praised teams for their response to the incident. He added that teams had worked to restore operations and continue supporting customers and patients.
Net sales were $5.138 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 1.5% from the same period a year earlier. By contrast, net income attributable to common shareholders was $582 million, or $0.40 per share under accounting standards, compared with $755 million and $0.51 per share a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.73, versus $0.75 in the third quarter of 2025. The figures show sales growth alongside year-over-year declines in net income and adjusted earnings. The disclosure cited here did not specify the extent to which the cyber incident affected each of those results.
The company expects fourth-quarter 2026 sales to decline about 3.0% to 1.0% from the same period last year on both reported and organic bases. It estimated adjusted earnings per share for the quarter at $0.77 to $0.79. That guidance differs from the sales growth recorded in the third quarter, as the company now points to a potential year-over-year decline in the final quarter. The fourth-quarter estimates form part of the annual cut to sales and adjusted earnings guidance. The company announced its third-quarter results on October 28, and a conference call to discuss them was scheduled for the same day at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time.
Segment performance varied modestly in the third quarter: Cardiovascular sales grew 1.9% year over year, while MedSurg sales rose 0.6% on a reported basis and 0.7% on both an operational and organic basis. Results also differed geographically: sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew 4.4% on a reported basis and 6.1% operationally. In Latin America and Canada, growth was 16.0% on a reported basis and 10.5% operationally. The Asia-Pacific region recorded a decline of 0.6% on a reported basis and 1.1% operationally. The results highlight a widening gap among regions, with stronger growth in Latin America and Canada and a decline in Asia-Pacific.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it detected the cyber incident on August 25, 2026, and that it caused a global disruption to operations, affecting product manufacturing and the processing and shipment of customer orders. In an earlier filing, it said major distribution centers had returned to processing and shipping orders at normal or higher levels, and manufacturing had resumed at most of its facilities worldwide. The company then announced on September 9 that it had fully restored manufacturing and order fulfillment and shipping, while continuing to work through its backlog. In an investigation summary published on September 22, it said the attacker had gained access through an internet-connected network device to a limited part of its local IT environment, and that the investigation found no evidence of ongoing activity after containment measures. These announcements provide a timeline of the restoration of operations, while the incident’s impact remained reflected in the cut to the annual outlook.
The company said in September that it expected to recover some of the affected revenue as operations ramped up and it worked through its backlog, but noted at the time that the full financial impact was not yet clear. On September 8, the stock fell 2.3% in morning trading after the company warned that the incident made it unlikely to meet its previous outlook. Before the current results were announced, EL7 published a report on October 23 saying the company had stated that meeting its 2026 earnings and sales guidance was unlikely because of the cyberattack. The company’s shares closed at $45.06 on October 27, according to EL7 data. The new guidance sets specific figures for the year and fourth quarter following earlier warnings about the incident’s impact.